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Sun of Shadows/Chapter 8
This is the eighth chapter in Sun of Shadows and the eighth in part one, Light. Breaking In This would be harder than she thought. Iris realized early on that she wasn't the only one awake. Sedna and Geb weren't asleep either - just Karzelek and the companions. She saw it in the way they were breathing: much faster than someone in their sleep. That was easy to see without a blanket, the two were on the ground after all. But why were they awake? She had hoped that at least one of them would fall asleep eventually, but several hours had passed now. Were they waiting for something? Did they maybe even have the same plan as her? No, never. They would never even think about it. But what then? She couldn't ask them. She would have to wait, wait and hope. Sedna got up. Like Iris herself, she was good at moving almost silently, and Iris watched in fascination as she sneaked to the exit. Where did she want to go? Did it have something to do with Perry's glance earlier? If only she could follow her without having to give up her own plan... As soon as Sedna had disappeared, Geb also started to move and looked around warily. He seemed to have convinced himself that nobody was watching him, and also left the room. To follow Sedna - or did he have his own plans? The whole thing was becoming weirder and weirder. Now Iris herself rose. Surely she'd find out soon enough what the others were doing. She had to concentrate on her own task now. Did she have to take anything with her? She glanced at her shoulder bag. There was nothing essential in it, but it wouldn't hurt to take it with her. You never knew. What else did she need? Light, it shot through her mind, and her gaze fell on Karzelek's glowing stone, stuck as usual in his self-made bracer. Luckily, the Ore Elm took it off while sleeping and it lay open on the small table next to his bedside. She crept over, taking the stone from the device, but why didn't it glow? She turned and turned it again, but nothing happened. How was she supposed to be able to cope in Thesan's dark prison without this stone? Frustrated, she uttered a soft curse. "...Iris?" Sleepily, Karzelek turned around so he could see her. "...why are you awake?" "Just because," she said, which was the dumbest answer she could have given. She quickly realized that herself. Karzelek's eyes fell on the empty floor beneath them. "Where's Sedna?", he asked, sitting up. "And Geb?" Fear penetrated his voice. "Iris, what's going on?" "It's fine," she assured him. "The two disappeared somewhere by themselves. Don't ask me what they're up to, but Geb wouldn't leave Boulder here if he wanted to run away." Karzelek nodded, that seemed to reassure him. But then he noticed that Iris held his glowing stone in her fingers. "What are you doing?" Iris groaned inwardly. "I... wanted to borrow your stone. There's someone I have to talk to." "But it's always bright enough here," Karzelek objected. "Unless..." He froze. "You can't do that!" "Sure I can," she replied. "We all agree that we can't just give up like that. And if anyone on this island agrees with us, it's Thesan." "Who knows what she did to get imprisoned." "Perry told us - she left the island and talked to the Elmen. Nothing more." Karzelek wasn't so sure. "And if he didn't tell us everything? If she did much worse things?" "Then Perry should think about how he sorts his information." Impatient, she looked at her friend. "I'm not going to free her, okay? I just want to talk to her." The Ore Elm put his hand on hers, on the one holding the glowing stone. "I'm coming with you." Speechless, she stared at him. Not only because she couldn't use company at all, but also because she would never have expected such a decision from Karzelek. He had just wanted to stop her, and now... "You'll need me," Karzelek went on a bit nervously, having noticed her confusion. He reached past her hand until he touched the glowing stone with his fingers, which immediately emitted its familiar light. "See?" Iris grimaced. Of course, only Ore Elmen could light the stones permanently. "I... I can do it without you, Karzie. You don't have to come with me." "No," he said firmly. "It's time for me to be brave again. I'll help you and prevent bad things from happening." "Sounds good," she said at last. Maybe he would be useful after all. She left Karzelek with his stone and went outside into the hallway, where she waited for her friend. He appeared a little later... and had not only the glowing stone, but also Four-Leaf in his arms. "Is that really necessary?", Iris whispered to him so her voice wouldn't echo through the corridor. "He doesn't bother anyone." Karzelek made no move to leave his companion behind. "Besides, he can help us. Or do you know where they keep Thesan prisoner?" "Somewhere downstairs. Inside the palace, where it's dark." Admittedly, she had hoped that the rest would come to her. There was no reason for Lumeon to lavishly hide the entrance to Thesan's cell. But Karzelek looked doubtful. "Then it was good I brought Four-Leaf." He set the goat down on the floor. At first nothing happened, the animal just stood there motionless. Then it ran off. Four-Leaf trotted confidently through the huge corridor and stopped again and again. Not to wait for the two Elmen, because he didn't look around. It seemed more like he was concentrating on something. "What exactly is he doing?", Iris asked as she followed Karzelek and his companion. "Finding the way." "How is that suppossed to work?" Karzelek beamed. "In our caves you get a sense for what the rock is made of and how deep the rock layer is. Some Elmen are really good at it, but our companions have much better senses than us. Four-Leaf is no exception, no matter how small he is." The goat bleated in agreement and Iris couldn't help but be impressed. "I didn't know that." Karzelek shrugged. "We didn't need that ability before. I bet Boulder can do it too if Geb asks him to." "Probably." She noticed that she had never really talked to Karzelek in private. There had always been Geb or Sedna with them. "Say, how come you're both so small? That's normal with my tribe, but with yours..." "I think it just happens sometimes," he replied. At least she didn't seem to have offended him. "My mother used to talk about an Elm whose skin was as transparent as the crystal horns on his head. No idea if that's true, but despite my size, she always believed that I'd go far." Yeah, as a warrior. She remembered the aggressive Elmin who hadn't cared about how Karzelek felt at all. "Who cares about your size?", she simply said. "You don't have to be taller than Geb to achieve something. Otherwise we both wouldn't be here right now." She looked around. The "here" now referred to the entrance gates of the palace, behind which lay the wooden bridge over which they had come. Was Thesan's prison outside the building? But Four-Leaf's hoofbeats drew their attention to an Elm-sized door that fit inconspicuously into the wall just before the gate. If you came from outside, you couldn't see the door, and even from this direction, nobody would even think of looking in that corner of the hallway. Karzelek picked his companion up again to carry him. "And we have to go in there?" "Why are you asking me? Your companion brought us here." "You're right," he sighed, positioning his hands so he could hold Four-Leaf and touch the glowing stone at the same time. The colorless light went on, preparing them for what they would find on the other side of the door. Iris opened the door, which wasn't even locked - and Karzelek pushed past her into the darkness. "I can do it," he whispered to her. She wanted to protest, but held back. It didn't matter which of them went first, they were both not the best fighters if anything happened. And Karzelek had the light... Iris followed the boy down a dark corridor, dimly lit by the glow of the light. Even here, the complete darkness that Perry had spoken of already prevailed. It couldn't be much farther - She almost walked into Karzelek when he stopped abruptly. "What's going on?", she asked and her voice continued to echo farther than it was supposed to in this narrow passageway. "Watch out," her friend warned her, waving the glowing stone so that Iris could get an image of their surroundings. She swallowed. Directly in front of them the corridor ended in a dark abyss, the bottom of which the glowing stone couldn't reach. "...is this it?", Karzelek breathed and held Four-Leaf even tighter. At that moment, Iris wished she also had an animal to hold on to. Here, even she got scared. Thesan must be down there, she realized. There were no steps down, so she had no choice. "Hello?", she called into the abyss. "Anyone there?" No answer. Silently she waited a few more seconds... "...who's there?" Iris immediately felt a hint of pity. It was a woman's voice that had answered her and that sounded like it hadn't been used for years. It sounded suspicious, yes, but not frightening. Iris exchanged a look with Karzelek before he raised his voice. "Are you Thesan?" Again, the answer took a moment. "Who are you that you don't know that?" Iris's heart jumped. They had found Thesan! "My name's Iris," she said quickly. "My friend here is Karzelek." "Show yourself," the voice begged, now more curious than wary. "You have a light, I can see that. Bend far enough forward, then its illumination might be enough." Karzelek hesitated, but eventually he set Four-Leaf down and removed the glowing stone from its holder. The two Elmen lay down on the ground and crawled forward as far as they felt safe, then Karzelek stretched out his arm with the glowing stone. Iris tried to make out anything. It was true, there was something moving down there! There were maybe thirty feet separating them from the ground and there... a figure slipped into the little light that reached the bottom. It was a woman, Iris saw that immediately, who was about thirty years old. Then she had just grown up when she landed here. The woman stood up to face them, so Iris was able to see her better. Her clothes were dirty and torn and her hair had lost its golden sheen and was unkempt, but she didn't actually look underweight. Lumeon must be taking care of her regularly. Neither her arms nor her legs were chained, only one of her wings seemed strangely small. Trimmed, Iris knew: by cutting off a few feathers on one side, the owner lost their balance and was unable to fly. This was a popular punishment for Caelus that didn't hurt, but humiliated the Elm and his companion for months. And it prevented Thesan from escaping this pit. Iris noticed one more thing: lack of sunlight made the skin paler, she knew that from Karzelek's tribe. Of course that wasn't possible with pure white skin... but Thesan's once golden markings had actually almost faded and were only a faint glimmer on her skin. The woman stared at them with wide eyes. "You... you aren't..." "Light Elmen?" Iris relieved her of speaking. Thesan's untrained, scratchy voice made her pity her. "No, we aren't. We came here thanks to Acquois." "Lumeon," Thesan said. "What..." "He thinks of us? Not much. He'll send us back tomorrow. He doesn't plan on helping us. But we can't and won't leave without the chosen one." A raucous laugh that faded quickly. "Lumeon... is abandoning his own prophecy?" "Of course not - but he doesn't want to help the tribes until Umbrath actually awakens." "Typical," it came back. "How long will that take? Five years of your calendar?" "Our calendar?", Karzelek asked before Iris could correct Thesan. "Do you have another one?" "We don't have one at all." They heard the joyless laugh again. "Did Lumeon never rave about it? I expected... that he wouldn't stop reminding you. Since he so appreciates the immortality of his tribe." Iris's jaw dropped. "Immortality?" She had to process that first. "The entire Tribe of Light is..." "Immortal, exactly. We haven't kept track of time for a long time... only Bennu has set himself the task of observing the stars. No one else uses the observatory... but someone has to tell Lumeon when it's time for the prophecy, right? No matter how much he looks forward to his role as the Hero of Light, without Bennu, he'd completely miss his performance." Iris was still so overwhelmed that she barely registered Thesan's last words. Immortality... that explained so much. The huge paintings, the strange expressions Perry and the other Light Elmen had used... Perry. Only now did she pause. "Did you say Lumeon is the chosen one?" "Sure. Who else would it be?" "A boy our age," Karzelek said. Iris remembered that Thesan couldn't know Perry since she'd been down here for so long. "A Light Elm named Hyperion." "Your age...", Thesan breathed - and suddenly a tremendous urgency lit her eyes. "I have to get out of here!", she yelled at the friends. "Let me -" Karzelek took his fingers from his glowing stone and shrouded the room in darkness. A curse sounded from below, and Iris also looked into the blackness in which Karzelek stood. "What was that for?" "The Light Elmen are the opposite of the Shadows," he replied nervously. "Surely they can travel through light like the Shadows do through darkness... and my stone would have been enough." "It would have been!", it came from below. "Turn it on again, boy. Let me out of here. It's time for me to take revenge on Lumeon and -" "And that's exactly why I'm not going to do it," Karzelek said as determined as he could before he lowered his voice. "I don't feel good about her, Iris. We should get out of here." She didn't actually want to go yet. There was still so much she wanted to ask Thesan... but Karzelek was right. No matter what Iris herself thought of her, they couldn't let her escape. No one could guess what she would do. "You can't leave yet!", Thesan shouted again. "You have to help me! Lumeon has to be stopped, don't you understand?" "She sounds like the Shadows," Karzelek whispered to Iris. "A wonderful transition - thank you." Iris could virtually feel the blood freezing in her veins. A new voice had joined them, a voice she was all too familiar with. "Khya." "Hello, Iris." Thanks to the darkness, she couldn't see Khya, but the sound of her beating wings reached her. The room seemed big enough for the Shadow to keep her wings in the air. "Impossible," Thesan said. "A Shadow... here... this has never -" "Thank our mutual friends here," Khya replied. "Bags are a surprisingly pleasant way to get around." Instinctively, Iris clutched her bag. Had Khya been in it all the time - since their last encounter on the sinking ship? It was dark enough to stay in her bodiless form... and Iris hadn't opened the bag in days. It's not your fault, the others would tell her now - but she had brought Khya to this Shadowless island, intentionally or not. That couldn't be denied. "What's your plan?", she asked the Shadow. "You couldn't possibly have known that we'd come here!" "And I didn't," Khya confessed. "But I had nothing to lose, right? I thought I'd wait a few hours and see if anyone can save you. I could hear everything you've been discussing the last few days. Lumeon was interesting, but when you talked about Thesan, I knew I had to find her. Again, Iris, thanks for the ride." "Good," Thesan's voice came up to them. "Very good." Iris shuddered. She, too, became aware of their situation: if Khya turned Thesan into a Shadow, she could escape through the darkness. Karzelek couldn't stand here forever and light up the corridor. And even if Iris fetched help, Khya could easily knock him out, not to mention the trouble she herself would be getting into. "Not quite what I expected," Thesan continued. "But I'm not going to refuse." Iris heard the beating of Khya's wings and the agonizing scream of Thesan as the Shadow used her magic. Karzelek didn't move, but Iris knew: "We have to get out of here!" If they were fast enough, they might be able to lock up the Shadows... Karzelek didn't protest. He activated his glowing stone to make their escape easier and ran as fast as his short legs allowed. Iris was close behind him and slammed the door of the prison shut as soon as they had reached the corridor. They couldn't lock it, but maybe block it? She looked around. "That won't work," Karzelek gasped. Iris had also noticed by now that there was nothing they could use. "Pigeon goo," she cursed. "And what are we going to do now?" "Go back to the others." The boy sounded as exhausted as she felt. "We can't do more than that." Karzelek was right, so they set off. Iris didn't dare turn around. Thesan was now a Shadow - and from previous encounters, Iris knew that a converted Elm retained some of their original abilities, only more sinister. Like Nergal's shadow fire... what would a Shadowed Light Elm be capable of? Hopefully they'd never find out. Find out... "Are we going to tell the others?", she asked Karzelek uncertainly. She was still clutching her bag like the boy did with Four-Leaf. "I don't know," he admitted. "If they're back before we are, they'll ask. If not..." "They'll hate me," Iris knew. "If... if anything happens, it's all my fault." "Don't say that," Karzelek replied. "You couldn't know that Khya would show up. And even ignoring that, we're both guilty, not just you. I shouldn't have let you go." She sighed. "It's too late anyway. But at least we've learned something." "That the Elmen of Light are immortal," Karzelek replied softly. "Do you think that's why they don't fly anymore? Because they haven't done it in so long that their wings can't do it anymore?" She looked at him in surprise. She hadn't thought of that yet. "But they wouldn't have had to trim Thesan's wing if that was the case." "Maybe she's special." She definitely was if she was the only one who had broken the laws of her tribe. "And especially angry," Iris said. "She didn't like the fact that Perry is the chosen one." "She thought it was Lumeon," Karzelek agreed. "But I can understand why she doesn't like the truth. Even Sedna is older than Perry." Her answer was little more than an absent-minded murmur. She had the vague feeling that Perry's age wasn't Thesan's only worry, as angry as she had sounded. Something was wrong here - but what? Category:Chapters Category:EE3 Chapters